Parents and educators can find valuable information on helping students handle traumatic situations, both close by and in the media, by reading this article offered by the National Association of School Psychologists. Requires Acrobat Reader. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

Though titled for administrators, this article is a must-read for all education professionals interested in making their schools safe and secure. There are ideas for planning, communication, parent information, and general security that should be automatic in every school.

In the Classroom

Share this with your building faculty, perhaps at a meeting so you can all be on the "same page." There is a printable version available for download (Acrobat file)so you can include it with your agenda.

This offering from the National Association of School Psychologists provides prevention ideas to avoid crisis at times of stress, such as spring. The article points out the stressors, both real and perceived, that occur in te spring of the school year and outlines strategies schools can take to prevent problems for mushrooming for students and staff.

In the Classroom

Education professionals should read this brief article for proactive strategies that could head off serious situations. Perhaps a faculty meeting should follow with discussion of specific ideas for implementation in your school. Share this with your teachers/administrator.

The National Association of School Psychologists offers this resource for helping recognize and deal with post traumatic stress disorder. In today's world of school violence, suicides, weather emergencies, war, and disasters, school professionals need information to help them help their students (and peers) in the aftermath of the unthinkable. TeachersFirst hopes you will never need this resource, but it is a must-read for anyone who might someday face crisis.

When you bill yourself as the world's leading website on Learning Disabilities and ADHD, you'd better prove it. LD OnLine does that and more. LD OnLine provides in-depth professional and parent articles, expert advice columns, forums, and disability/differences resources for parents and educators within this easily-navigated site. Many of those articles offer strategies to help deal with the disabilities. The site also includes a convenient yellow pages directory for those who need further professional advice.

In the Classroom

The first-hand stories by famous and not-so-famous Americans are priceless. Teachers and guidance counselors will boost the self-esteem in their struggling students by sharing stories by these 'overcomers.' There is even a section where students can submit stories (make sure you have parent permission).

Find information to help you understand your students' disabilities. Visit one of the forums to collaborate and get ideas from other online viewers. Share this site (or sections of it) with colleagues and parents (and even older students) to help build cooperation and understanding. Educators may wish there were more specific curriculum support.

This site provides the alarming news on obesity. The interesting topics include a comparison of obesity from 1970 to 2000, a "help" page, a body image page, information about eating disorders, quizzes, interactive videos, information about what obesity means and more. Some of the activities require FLASH.

In the Classroom

Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to share this useful website with your students. This would also be a wonderful link to provide in your classroom newsletter - many parents would appreciate the information and tips. Note: the site is from the UK, but the information is valid on both sides of the Atlantic!

This site offers information about the devastating facts of domestic abuse. There is a 12-minute video (requires FLASH), real-life stories by students who have experienced domestic abuse, an interactive quiz and a vast array of information on the subject of domestic abuse. Remember this site was created in the UK, so some of the language may be new to your students. You may need to discuss the noticeable differences.

In the Classroom

Encourage your teenaged students to read the real-life stories about students who experienced domestic abuse, either as a springboard to guidance discussions or for frank one-on-one talk. Discuss with your students, especially those who may be "at-risk," how someone could handle this situation where you live - who do they tell, where do they call and what should they do.

Although this site was created to help students in Britain prepare for "Back To School," many of the tips and activities are useful to students from all over the world. This site provides interactive quizzes, informative guides, and numerous features. The guide section provides a lot of details about very useful subjects including bullies, school uniforms, exam stress, dyslexia, creativity and other subjects. The Press Packs section is written by a student for students' use and includes topics such as being the new kid in school and organic lunches.

This site addresses the important issue of bullying. It includes an interactive video, reports, information guides, quizzes, polls, and more. This site also talks about the less frequently discussed forms of bullying - such as cyber bullying, girls bullying girls, cellular phone bullying and other less "traditional" forms of bullying (which unfortunately are becoming more common). FLASH is required for some of the activities.

In the Classroom

Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to talk to your class about bullying. Perhaps you can even use this discussion to prompt a journal entry, skit, or other personal response on the topic of bullying and how to handle it. Provide this link for parents to read at home with their students. Parents need to know what could be going on in their students' lives and how to help.

A Christmas gift from one of our own staff, this lesson based on Shel Silverstein's book The Giving Tree is sure to get you students thinking about the Christmas spirit. We're also offering a place for you to share your students' responses on TeachersFirst's own giving tree.

In the Classroom

This lesson can be adapted for use in language arts class with students of varying ability levels in grades 2 - 8. This lesson is also well-suited to a multi-age activity with "big buddies" and "little buddies" from upper and lower grades working together. School counselors and emotional support teachers may find this activity helpful for small groups working on social skills, as well.

Help students develop personal financial literacy as a real-world connection to your curriculum. At this site, teens take a quiz to find out their background, financial needs, and monthly expenditures. The next page shows users how much money they need to earn to fulfill just their basic needs. The calculator breaks the amount needed to earnings per hour times how many hours per week they'd need to work. It also displays a breakdown of what types of employment would yield the desired amount. Of course, the site also shows that the more educated one is, the better the wages.

In the Classroom

Have students navigate the quiz and scenarios on laptops or in a lab-- or even as homework-- as part of you unit on life after high school or career planning. There is more teacher information and an explanation of standards available in the drop-down menus.

This begins with an explanation about why students should attend a university to study acting and theatre. It offers links to many sites beyond this one, but just using this one gives very practical information from a professional actor (and someone who has a B.F.A. in theatre) about auditioning, choosing monologues, etc.

In the Classroom

Depending on the maturity and motivation of your students, this site has information directly for them, or information you can adapt for your own teaching about the topics covered. This is an excellent site for those who actually teach drama to aspiring actors due to its practical nature. Coupled with several of the monologue sites, this gives many lessons of training and practice for those young actors.

A Free, Interactive Course in Studio and Field Production-- This is a free course aimed at students interested in going into television production. It is exhaustive in its entirety and covers all aspects of the production from scripts to news reporting, editing, legal and ethical issues, etc. While it is geared to college students, upper level high school students would do well with some of this as well, especially those motivated by this subject matter. It also offers the entire course in Spanish and Portuguese.

Clicking on the "Readings and Information" menu will give you a "classroom related" menu that includes lesson plans and ideas. Scrolling down the main page, you can check on interactive test, crosswords, quizzes, video projects, and notes for both students and teachers.

In the Classroom

Wow, what a source for those teaching video or scriptwriting! This would be a valuable reference site for students interested in independent projects using video or for gifted enrichment projects, as well. If nothing else, assign lessons on composition and other "basics" to any student choosing to use video as a medium for a major project.

The New York Times Learning Network has brought together a number of resources on school violence. Although the site does not include any coverage of the 2006 Amish school shooting, there are contemporary Times reports of a number of other high-profile cases of school violence. The reports are coupled with several lesson plans designed to help students talk about these issues, as well as resources to help teachers plan effective discussions on school violence.

In the Classroom

Teachers cannot ignore the issues of school violence, nor hope they can avoid questions from students. The issue is not whether they should talk about it with students, but how they can do it most effectively and honestly. These lesson plans and resources can help teachers feel prepared, either for a planned discussion, or for the spur-of-the-moment question that becomes a teachable moment.

This website provides a wealth of information for children, teenagers and educators. Specifics include cosmetics, germs, food safety, hand washing, careers in food science, online games, interactive coloring pages and more! While most of the content appears elementary, there is information on food science careers and some higher level informaiton under Kids, Teens, and Educators.

In the Classroom

If you want a "healthier" class, use this website to help students understand the importance of hand washing and staying healthy! There are age-appropriate activities for all grades at this website. Home Ec/FCS teachers will love the information on food safety and hand washing, too!

Part of a larger Canadian site designed to help secondary school students make career and educational decisions, this section is focused on career choice. There are a number of nice personality and abilities quizzes that offer career guidance. Some of the questionnaires are printable worksheets (requiring Acrobat Reader), and some are on-line and generate feedback automatically. One of the instruments generates a Myers-Briggs style personality type.

In the Classroom

College and career planning cause significant angst among high school students. While none of what is posted on the site will tell students what they ought to do or where they ought to go, they will certainly provide some good insight and can help open a dialogue about these important choices. These activities should not be limited to the guidance counselors, but can be used in other classroom contexts with high school students. Be sure to provide this link on your class website for families to explore together.

Oral health topics are presented in an attention getting format that includes games, informative animations (require FLASH), hands on activities and printable student worksheets (require Acrobat Reader). The a la carte lesson format makes it easy to use lessons individually or as a complete oral health unit. Animations and games/puzzle section are geared for the younger grades. The appropriate age levels for each of the sections are clearly labeled. There are also sections on dental careers.

In the Classroom

Provides comprehensive lesson plans with links to student worksheets that can be printed. Website is available in Spanish. Use a projector to show parts of the website to the whole class or use as a center for small groups of students.

This page has simple tips on ways dads (or surrogate dads) can get involved to support learning support or ADHD kids both in and out of school. The brief article is available in printed form and include support from resaerch on the impact dads can have.